"We're depending on God; he's everything we need. What's more, our hearts brim with joy since we've taken for our own his holy name. Love us, God, with all you've got— that's what we're depending on." -Psalm 33:20 (The Message)

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Just Beneath the Surface

It's Springtime! Well...by calendar anyway. Clearly the weather is not quite spring-like since I'm still seeing patches of snow out my window, but low and behold, it is at least on the brink of Springtime. I love Spring. In addition to Spring, it is also the week of Easter. Yesterday, I posted some of my thoughts about Easter (read post here). Today, I want to tie that theme of Easter into a picture God has also placed in my heart over the past few days...the picture of Spring.

Easter is the celebration of LIFE Jesus Christ was given after 3 days of being in the depths of death and hell. It is a time where we look amazingly at an empty grave and thank the Lord of Lords for raising to life that which was dead. It is a time we remember that our God is still living--He is not dead, He is risen indeed. It is a time where we honor Jesus as the Hero, the Conqueror, the Victor over all that comes from Hell with all that comes from Heaven. It is the miracle of all miracles that saves our souls. Jesus' resurrection, however, was not a miracle created on a whim during the waking hours of day 3. It was a miracle that had been a very, very, very long time in the planning...in the making...in the growing...in the perfecting. It was a miracle God had been in control of for far longer than any human would have ever known...a miracle just beneath the surface.

Comparably, when I think of Spring, I think of the wonder of new life being seen all around me. Just as Christ broke through the hardness of sin and death on Easter morning, these tender living greens are breaking through the surface of the hard winter ground to catch their first glimpse of the warm spring sunshine.

Spring is a time of watching all that seemed dead come alive. However, again, like Christ, just as the miracle of His resurrection was not made on a whim, the miracle of these green plants breaking through the surface of the ground is also not something done on a whim. There has been life, action, growth, perfection--the miraculous--happening just beneath the surface. Just because the human eye did not see the happenings of the seed under the soil does not mean it was always going to remain just a seed. God had been working beneath the surface on the miracle He desired us to eventually see--a beautiful, green, living plant. Likewise, just because the human eye did not see what all Christ was doing on our behalf in the depths of hell does not mean He was going to be left as a wrapped corpse on a slab of rock. God had been working on the miracle He desired us to eventually see--an everlasting and loving offer of freedom. God has always been at work--a miracle in the making despite what we could see.

Watch this brief video and be amazed at what all was taking place beneath the surface before anyone on ground level would have even known...

Did you notice before anything else, this tiny seed's roots were developing downward. Essential for it's survival--it needed a root to grown deep down into the soil for nourishment. Without the water from under the surface there would be no hope in a plant growing upward. When a mini-drought came, the growth of the plant was halted. When water returned to the roots, the plant continued its growth. Half way through the video was the first breakthrough of the top layer of soil (stone). Half way through the video, the miraculous would have been seen by the human eye on ground level. Half way. However, because we could watch from the side we now know there were so many critical events happening in that first half of the video. The miraculous was happening beneath the surface. Did you also notice that even after the plant had broken the surface and was basking in the beautiful sunshine where all seemed right and well, it still was supported by the miraculous happening under the surface? When the soil dried up and the roots had no water, once again the plant began to wilt. What was happening beneath the surface was STILL the most critical part of the process of sustained life. When water returned, the plant became full of life once again.

So many parallels, friends. So many good Truths to glean from the happenings of Easter and Springtime. No matter where you are at in life, I would bet you have at least one thing happening where you are staring at an unbroken surface and wondering if God is really there. Is He really caring? Is He really doing anything? Is a miracle really ever going to be there for you? I have two situations that come to the forefront of my mind. One is private and will remain that way. One is more public--our adoption.

When I look back over the past year and 9 months, I can see, in my humanness, where I have questioned what on earth God is doing. Why He seemed distant and silent. Why He seemed to be taking so long to get Nora into our arms. Why He seemed to not be answering some prayers while definitely answering others. All of those have, thankfully, been times where He has come to my broken and weary human place and whispered words of assurance. Truths that even though I am still only seeing the unbroken ground, He is feverishly at work on the miraculous just beneath the surface. That He is not necessarily the One making all the things happen or not happen on the surface level because He's too busy making sure the work under the surface is everything it needs to be for the miraculous to be seen by the world. I believe He truly does desire for the miraculous to never be solely kept underground, but to be seen by those on the surface. He wants that moment of all moments--the moment the living green breaks through the dark soil--to be the most holy and profound moment because that is how much He loves us. He only wants us to see and have the best. The best.

I believe He is doing this very thing in our adoption--I know without a shadow of doubt He is working just beneath the surface. I trust Him and have faith that He is growing the most beautiful, perfect moment of miraculous breakthrough. I am so excited, so anxious, so anticipatory towards this moment, friends, that is hard for me to sit still while the work is underground. My eagerness, my desire, my passion to get Nora home comes purely out of that desire to finally behold the most profound miracle moment I will have witnessed in this entire process. To behold with my own eyes the height of the work of God. I simply can not wait to see it all! I believe Him to be doing the very same things in my more private situation as well, even though that situation is completely different...He is still growing a miracle so amazing it is going to knock our socks off.

There is LIFE happening, friends, where I can not see it. There is LIFE happening where you can not see it. There are roots digging deeper and deeper into a fertile soil that will sustain the plant as it gets closer and closer to the surface of human view. There is a continual water source available for those roots to utilize in the wait, in the breakthrough of the ground, and in the continued growth once in human view. A water source available to sustain the miraculous work happening even when we do not see it ourselves. My responsibility or "job" in the wait, in the stillness, in the wintertime, is to trust God to be doing a work I can not see and to keep my roots fully engaged in the living water He has for them. I pray if you have found yourself in a similar place as I have, you, too, will gain hope and excitement as you rest in the knowledge that Your God has not left you with unbroken ground. He has not left the miracle as a seed under the soil or a body in a grave. He is simply still personally preparing the most perfect miracle for you because He loves you THAT MUCH!

And guess what, friends? It's Springtime! It's almost time for us to behold the breathtaking sight of all the miraculous work God has been up to just beneath the surface. Have I mentioned how much I truly love Spring?

About Me

I'm just an ordinary, every-day woman living with an extraordinary, living and active God in my heart. His love, joy, peace, and energy fill me to the brim. My relationships and life are an overflow of those miraculous blessings.